Position setting device



Feb. 20, 1945. R N R5", 2,369,690

POSITION SETTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 3, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l awmmummwFeb. 20, 1945. R. N. ROTH 2,369,690

POSITION SETTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 3, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ll am jlwucn two Huber N Ru ch a a? M/MM 61 Noam member or an adjustable mechanismsu thetransmission of a motor vehicle, v

In the use of somegear shifting devices, it is Patented Feb. 20, 1945 rUNITED STATES PA ENT P SITION' SETTIN DEVICE "Roberthil. Rom, Akron,Ohio Application August 3, 1944, Serial No. 547,947 1 I 12.01am. (01.74-565) (Granted under t'he'act or March 3, 1883;. amended v 2 370 0.75v I The invention described herein may be manutactured and used by orfor the. Government: for governmental purposes, without the payment tome of. any royalty thereon.

The present invention pertains to a madevice for setting the position-ofan adjustable.

possible to skip or byipass one of the positions or stations, forexample, in the conventional H-type gear shift it is possible andquiteusual to shift; from first gear to third gear without going throughsecond gear. This practice isvery. undesirable on heavy vehicles such ascomh at tanks and may result in the stripping of gears. The object ofthe present invention is to r vide a setting mechanism that does notpermit skipping a station- Thisobject is accomplished, enerally, byproviding a device that is halted automatically ator before eachstation, requir a definite release or reversal of the. manual force onthe actuator before the movement can be continued. Such release orreversal results in engagement of the gears at the particular stati'onand is of such duration that no "injury will result from shiftingstation.

' More. specifically, the device embodies afhandle o1; lever movable inone'plane; in one direction I orthe opposite, through successivestations. The device functions as a detent at each station.

I The parts between the handle and the finally adjusted member are ofsuch construction that g the handle is automatically arrested at each'sta-- I 'tion and immediately prior tothe functioning of the detent. Inthe movement 01 the handle;

ch. as.

An illustrative embodiment of theinvention. is disclosed in thefollowingdescriptionand in the. accompanying drawingsinwhich: v

Figure l is an elevation of the device;

Figure 2 is a section on the line. 2 2 oi Figure l l Figure 3 is adetail elevation of the-dfVlC3w=ln a given'position; V .f i Figures 4and 5 are sim" ar elevationsishowe ing progressive positions;

' struotion;

Figure 6 is an elevation oi -1a modified Figure 6;

immediately out of thathg a spring is energized. The handle ispositively locked against further movement in the same direction,together with the detent mechanism, but. the parts are released by theenergized spring when the manual pressure is taken ofi' th'ehandle orthe handle. is; slightly reversed. .Thefmove Figure an adetaiIeIeVationin a planeparallfelto that of Figure '7; v L Figure 9 isa detail elevation of. afpart ill-.34 plane parallel to that of Figurefi, and y j Figures 10' and .11 are detai l {elevations.;of .th'e.devicein'progressivepositions.

The device of Figures .1 antl;2.is shoyviiias' having a housingvconsistingof pair or ssaeeq' plates 1 and,2 .assembledbyany suitablemeans. such as spacers 3. In the plat'esjis .journa1le d-. a boss 4 fromwhich extends anarm. 5 in the up; warddirection; The boss-.5receivesjafgeari shift shaft 6.to which it .iskeyd at]; Adjustment oftheshaft about it axisshiits gea'rsi'or changes the setting oi the,transmission control valves from one stageto another.' Along its up; peredge the housimscarriesindicia R. N; I 2," '3 representing thestages."1.

In' one of thesides of the'housing is outv a. slot,

8 having seats or stations 9 correspondingjto the indicia andrespectively ,alined' therewith from the center of the shaft'fi.'Eachlseat is the apex of a triangular formationv lilin the slot, theend triangles [0 having approximately half the base length oithetriangles. ill. Ateach base aftooth H or .i l project fromjthe WallInember into the triangular recess for" a purpose; that. will. presentlybe described. f f j The. arm 5 is formed with a triangular .open ing. 13(Figure 3) adapted to}.coin'cidesele tively. with the triangles I 0 andto registerwithtlieo.d1

triangles. I'll on'adjustmento'f the arm, ,'me,ans that will presentlyhe described, about the axis;

oitheshaftli. m

Behind the. arm 5 i mounted a. lockingpin carrier approximately in thgeneraliorm of a T- haped member having. a stem I5 and. a head I 6presenting a pair of bearing points'lil. A locking pin 18 is carried.bythe head J6 and projects through the triangular'opening l3 of the arm'5 into the 5101; 8 in thehOuSiIig, A slide pin 9 extends from the steml5 in to an axial slot}? v in the lower portion of the arm 5. A coiledwire spring 2| is seated at 22 in the boss 4 and j attached to the upperend of the arm 5 by a pin 26' and is formed with a pair of baseshoulders "21 adapted to engage respectively with the bearing points llof thelocking pin carrier.

In the operation of the device, let it be assumed that the locking pinI8 is to be shifted from its seating position at station No. 1, as shownin Figures 1 and 3, to the next station N to the left. The initialswinging of the handle 24 is actually a counter-clockwise movementthereof about the pin 26, resulting in a similar motion of the carrier|5--|'| as well as a depression thereof to move its pin IE to the bottomof the slot 20. These two movements of the carrier move the locking pin8 downwardly and laterally out of the seat 9 into one of the base anglesof the triangle I6 corresponding to the station No. 1 and in like mannerin the coinciding triangular slot l3 of the arm 5.-

The handle is fully displaced, as in Figure 5,

when it has tilted the carrier to the position where the locking pin I8is stopped against the next tooth The arm 5, also, has shifted laterallywith respect to the locking pin so that the slot l3 now coincides withthe triangular opening H1 of the station N. The important function ofthe slot l3 in thisrespect is that it permits the lateral swinging-"ofthe arm 5 by manual force on the handle ,24, sothat the coincident slotsprovide a clear path for the upward movement of the locking pin l8 intothe next seat 9. In contradistlnction; if the slot |3 had only the widthof the slot 26'; the device would still be operative in most cases, butthe lateral movement of the arm 5 necessary fol-the next seatingposition of the pin l8 would result only from a component of force ofthe spring 2| and would fail to occur in some cases, for example, whenthe lubricant on the parts is too stiff.

The handle 24 cannot be pushed to the left from the position of Figure5, unless slightly reversed, since it is .bound by the carrier |5--|land the latter is arrested by the engagement of the pin l8 against thetooth H. it is impossible to skip or jump a station by uninterruptedpressure on the handle.

When the manual pressure on the handle is relieved, or slightlyreversed, the spring 2| which has been compressed by the aforementioneddownward movement of the pin I9 and stem I5, now exerts an upward forceon the carrier, seating the pin l8 in the apex of the triangle I0 ofstation N and returning the carrier and handle 24 to the balanced orsymmetrical position relatively to-the arm 5, as shown in Figures 1 and3.

This device is subject to the defect that, in the position of.Fisure'4', the looseness of the gears associated with the shaft 6 orthe action of the usual detent on this shaft is liable to permit the pinl8 to'jump over the tooth ll of the station N and into, readiness forseating in station R, thereby skipping station N. This defect isovercome in theconstruction shown in Figures 6, 'I and 8 whichjflingeneral, provides a more positive or incompressible means for guidingthe locking pin. This device comprises, as in the previous construction,a housing 30 with an arm 3| therein keyed on the gearshift shaft 32. Thepin slot 33 has V-shaped'depressions 34 between its ends Consequentlyand semi-V-shaped depressions 34' at its ends constituting thegear-shift stations which are indicated R. N. 1, 2, 3.

The arm 3| has pivotally attached thereto a heart-shaped cam 35 by meansof a pin 36. The cam has an axial slot 31 below the pin and a seat 38above the pin and is symmetrical with respect to the axis of the slot.

The handle 39 extends considerably beyond the pin 36 in order to carry apin 43 received in the slot 31 of the cam. Between the handle 39 and thearm 3| is mounted a slide 4| having a slot 42 which receives a pin 43extending from the handle and constituting the main pivot of the handle.A spring is compressed between the pin 43 and the bottom of the slot 42.Another pin 45 is carried by the slide and extends into a triangularslot 46 cut in the arm 3|. The slot is adapted to register with anyselected station in the pin slot 33. A pair of leaf springs 41 pinned tothe arm 3| at 48 bear against opposite sides of the cam 35 and tend tomaintain it centered on the arm, in the position shown in Figure 6.

.In the operation of the device, let it be assumed that the locking pinis to be moved to the left from the position shown in Figure 6. Theinitial movement of the handle 39 to the left swings the cam incounter-clockwise direction, as in Figure 10, through the pin and theslot 31, until the pin 40 reaches the end of the slot 31. Thi movementof the cam first swings the lower end of the slide 4| to the left andthen cams the slide upward, moving the pin to the upper left hand cornerof the V-slot 34 of station N0. 1. In the upward movement of the slide,

the spring 44 is compressed. Also, the swinging of the cam places theright hand spring 41 under tension.

The slide 4| rests on one end of an arc of constant radius between thepoints 49 and 53 on the cam 35. Continued movement of the handle to theleft causes the latter to turn with the cam about the pin 36 as an axiswhile the are 49, Eli rides under the slide 4| without altering thedistance between the pins 36 and 45. The right hand wall of the opening46 in the arm 3| moves 7 the locking pin 45 to the upper right handcorner of the V-slot of station N. The handle cannot be moved farther tothe left, since a responding ro tation of the cam would tend to lift theslide through the increasing radius beyond the point 50, and suchlifting is obstructed by the engagement of the pin 45 with the upperedge of the opening 46 at the arm 3|.

When the manual pressure on the handle is released, the .tensioned flatspring 4'! swings the cam clockwise and brings the seat 38 in aposition.

dropped to the bottom of the V-slot for station N under the action ofthe spring 44, and the parts are symmetrical with respect to a line fromthe axis of the shaft 32 through th locking pin, as

in Figure 6.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and beendescribed, it will be understood that various alterations may be madewithout departure from the spirit of the invention as indicated by theappended claims.

EWhat-Iclaimidrl 1 v 4 Aposltion setting device comprising a platehaving a slot therein, said' slot having spaced indentationsrepresenting stations of the apparatus to be set, an armplv'otallyattached to said plate, a handle arm pivotally connected to the firstarm, a locking pin carrier slidably and pivctally mounted on one of saidarms andadaptedto exert' pressure axially on the other arminthedirection of said indentations, spring means acting on said carrierto produce such pressure and to move the pin into a selectedindentation, means arresting movement of said handle arm as said pinapproaches an indentation, said last mentioned means being releasable'onrelease of the actuating pressure on said handle arm, whereby said sprng'means' slides said carrier to move said pin into the indentation.

ed on one, of said .armgand adapted toexert pres- S xi lly .on' the.other arm in the directionlof said indentations, Spring means acting onsaid carrier tozproduce such pressure and to move the pin into aselectedindentation, said carrier being adapted to energize said springmeans andto arrest movement of said handle whe'nsaid lockin pin is-in advance ofone of said indentations, whereby'release. or the actuating pressure onsaid handle arm, permitssaid sprin means to slide carrier andforcefsaidpin into the indentation.

1 3 A, position setting device comprising a plate having a slottherein,said slot having spaced indentationsrepresenting stations of; theapparatus to be set, an arm pivotally attachdto said. plate, a handlearm pivotally connected tothefirst. arm,

a lockingpin carrier slidably and pivotally mounted on one. of said armsand adapted to exert pressure axially on the other arm inthe directionof said indentations, spring means acting on said carrier to producesuch pressure and to move the pin into a selected indentation, saidfirst arm having an opening receiving said pin, means arresting movementof said handle arm as said pin approaches an indentation, said lastmentioned means being releasable on release of the actuating pressure'onsaid handle arm, whereby said spring means slides said carrier to movesaid pin into the indentation. a

4. A position setting device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slot having spaced in.- dentationsfrepresenting stations of theapparatus to be set, an arm pivotally attached to said plate, I

a handle arm pivotally connected to the first arm, a locking pin carrierslidably and pivotally mount ed on one of said arms and adapted to exertpressure axially on the other arm'in the direction of said indentations,spring means acting on said carrier to produce such pressure and to movethe pin into a selected indentation, said first arm having anopening'receiving said pin, said carrier being adapted to energize saidspring means and to arrest movement of said handle when said locking pinisin advance of one of said indentations, whereby release of theactuating pressure on said handle arm permits said spring means to slidesaid carrier and forcesaid pin into the indentation.

slot having spaced into beset, arm pivotally attached to 'said plate,

a handle arm pivotally connected to the first arm,

a locking pin carrier 'slidably and 'pivotally mounted on one of saidarms and-adapte to exert pressurev axially on theother arm'l'n thedirection of said indentations, spring means acting on said carrier toproduce such pressure and to move the pin into a selected'indentation,said first arm having an opening receiving said pin, said opening beingout sizeto cover asele'cted indentation, means arresting movement ofsaid handle arm as said pin approaches an indentation, said lastmentioned means being releasableon release of the actuating pressure onsaid handle arm, whereby said spring means slides'said carrier to movesaid pin into the indentation.

6. A position setting device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slothaving spaced indentations representing stations of theapparatus tobe set, anarm pivo'tally'attached to'said plate, said armhaving an opening-therethro'ugh adapted to register selectively withsaid indentations, a

I looking pincarrie'r' slidably mounted relatively to said arm, alocking pin extending fromsaid carrier intosaid opening and slot, ahandle 'pivotally connected to saidarmgmeans movable with said handlefor sliding said carrier, and spring means acting on said carrier andpositioned to be energized on-movement of said handle, said arm, carrierand handle being dimensioned to bind against further movement assaid pinapproaches an indentation, said spring means being adapted to releasethe parts on'release of actuating pressure on said handle, whereby toslide 'saidcarrier to move said-pin into the indentation. 1

7. A positio settling device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slot having spaced indentations representing stations of theapparatus to beset, an ar pivotally attached to said plate, said amhaving an openingtherethrough of dimensions adapted to cover said in-'ing and slot, a handle pivotally connected to said arm, means movablewith said handle {for sliding saidcarrier, and spring means acting onsaid carrier and positioned to be energized on movement of said handle,said arm, carrier and handle being dimensioned to bind against furthermovement as said pin approaches an indentation, said spring means beingadapted to release the parts on release of actuating pressure on saidhandle, whereby to lide said carrier to move said pin into theindentation.

8. A position setting device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slot having spaced indentations representing stations of theapparatus to be set, an arm pivotally attached to said plate, said amhaving an opening therethrough adapted to register selectively with saidindentations, a locking pin carrier 'slidably mounted relatively to saidarm, a locking pin extending from said carrier into said opening andslot, a handle pivotally attached to said arm, said handle having aportion adapted to slide said carrier to its limit on rocking of thehandle, whereby to arrest further movement of the handle in the samedirection, a spring adapted to be energized on sliding of the carrier bythe handle, said pin being positioned mile at the approach of anindentation when said handle is "arrested, whereby. release of actuatingpressure on said handle permits said spring to slide said carrier andmove the pin'into the indentation.

9. A position setting device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slothaving spaced indentations representing stations of the apparatus to be set, an arm pivotally attached to said plate, said armhaving an opening there the approach of an indentation when said handleis arrested, whereby release of actuating pressure on said handlepermits said spring to slide said carrier and move the pin into theindentation.

10. A position setting device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slot having spaced indentations representing stations of'theapparatus to be set, an arm pivotally'attached to said plate, said armhaving an opening therethrough adapted to register selectively with saidindentations, a handle pivotally connected to said arm, a locking pincarrier slidably mounted on said handle, a locking pin extending fromsaid carrier into said opening and slot, a cam pivotally attached tosaid arm and having a sliding, connection with said handle, spring meanspositioned to be energized by said cam on pivotal movement thereof, saidcam-being adapted to engage said carrier and hold said pin at theapproach of an indentation at thelimit of said sliding connection,whereby to arrest further movement of said handle in the same direction,said energized spring means being adapted to release said cam to permitsaid pin to enter the indentation.

11. A position setting device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slot having spaced indentations representing stations of theapparatus to be set, an arm-pivotally attached to said plate, said arm,having an opening therethrough adapted to register selectively with saidindentations, said opening being of a size to cover a selectedindentation, a handle pivotally connected to said arm, a locking pincarrier slidably mounted on said handle, a locking pin extending fromsaid carrier into said opening and slot, a cam pivotally attached tosaid arm and having a sliding connection with said handle, spring meanspositioned to be energized by said cam on pivotal movement thereof, saidcam being adapted to engage said carrier and hold said pin at theapproach of an indentation at the limit of said sliding connection,whereby to arrest further movement of said handle in the same direction,said energized spring means being adapted to release said cam to permitsaid pin to enter the indentation.

12. A position setting device comprising a plate having a slot therein,said slot having spaced indentations representing stations of theapparatus to be set, an arm pivotally attached to said plate, said armhaving an opening therethrough adapted to register selectively with saidindentations, a handle pivotally connected to said arm, a locking pincarrier slidably mounted on said handle, a locking pin extending fromsaid carrier into said opening and slot, a cam pivotally attached tosaid arm and having a slot and pin. connection with said handle, springmeans positioned to be energized by said cam on pivotal movementthereof, said cam being adapted to engage said carrier and hold said pinat the approach of an indentation at the limit of said slot and pinconnection, whereby to arrest further movement of said handle in thesame direction, said energized spring means being adapted to releasesaid cam to permit said pin to enter the indentation.

ROBERT N. ROTH.

